


Work Bitch

by thezestycadenski



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Adult Content, Alternate Universe - Prostitution, Explicit Language, F/M, M/M, Old Time England AU, Rape Recovery, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-02-12 20:42:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2124057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thezestycadenski/pseuds/thezestycadenski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Here! Take it! It's going to be multi-chaptered and this started because I meeped my laptop but I went and got it fixed today!!! WOO. And my break is almost over so uploads are going to be very few and far between. Apologies for that. But for now, enjoy this! (Also I'm going to be trying to upload these chapters at 5k words or more. This one I felt had simply run it's course so, that's why it's a bit shorter. But the next one will be chock-a-block and interesting, I hope.)</p><p>(On Hiatus)</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. An Unusual Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Here! Take it! It's going to be multi-chaptered and this started because I meeped my laptop but I went and got it fixed today!!! WOO. And my break is almost over so uploads are going to be very few and far between. Apologies for that. But for now, enjoy this! (Also I'm going to be trying to upload these chapters at 5k words or more. This one I felt had simply run it's course so, that's why it's a bit shorter. But the next one will be chock-a-block and interesting, I hope.)
> 
> (On Hiatus)

It wasn't the constant hunger that made Arin do it. Nor for the enjoyment. What could enjoyment could be had with old hacks grasping at you with sweaty palms, rutting at you like a pig in a dark alleyway? No, it wasn't for any of that. It was for the insane amounts of money he made. It was for him. The one who made all the stench and imprints feel like nothing with a single smile. The curly-haired, lanky older man that he called his best friend and the one that had been so grateful when Arin had started pulling in money, enough money to actually buy a house and have enough food to last them a lifetime. He still had no idea of what Arin did for him, and Arin preferred it that way.

"I'm home, Danny." He could feel the ache in his throat as he spoke and winced, his tear-stained cheeks were probably still visible too. He always cried after every single meeting, sometimes during, though if it was during he wouldn't let them see, and he could always feel the eternal sting on his cheeks.

 

It had been a few months since they'd had a bad patch. The last one had been the worst, hunger gnawing away at their insides and being forced to steal what little they could all with the absolute terror that they might be caught and sent to prison which was a fate worse than death. There was a night when they were bunking down at the old abandoned warehouse by the docks and Arin had been unable to sleep despite his exhaustion. He'd gotten up, walking to the back entrance that led out into a little alleyway and stopped when he saw a young lady, followed by a portly gentleman, top hat and pocket-watch and all, step into the entrance, just beyond the lights reach. He watched as silently as possible, with her back to the man, the look on her face said it all; boredom, disgust and resignation. It was all of a few seconds before the man grabbed her from behind and pushed her against the wall, groping her chest while using his other hand to guide the lady's hand to his crotch. Her face changed smoothly to desire. She was a night dweller. That much was obvious. He watched the whole scene go down a mere five metres from where he had crouched behind some barrels instinctively, well hidden in the darkness.

Long after the man had beat his hasty retreat in his carriage she remained lent against the wall, tidying herself up. She held up a purse of coins, weighing it in her palm contemplatively, and sight of the coin purse made Arin's breath catch in awe. No doubt there was far more than just a few shillings in there and his stomach ached at the thought of being able to buy food. He snapped out of his reverie as she stepped into the light. She was actually quite a fair lass, slightly younger than himself he guessed, with raven hair and an extremely low-cut bodice and a face full of kohl and rogue. He stood as if to go after her but rattled against the barrel, he ducked back down as her face turned to the sound. Her face was pleasing to the eye, seemingly open and inviting but with a fire in her eyes that Arin had never seen the likes of in another woman.

"Come on out." Her voice called to him, soft and lilting but with a sly knowledge. Arin stood reluctantly, moving forward only slightly.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Her tone was teasing now, and Arin became aware of just how dangerous the situation was. She was a bawd and if he was caught anywhere near her, by the Watch or her Mistress, without money he would surely have his stomach slit open as recompense. But despite it, they were both street people to their core. And that meant there was some kind of camaraderie between them, even if they didn't know each other.

"Not ver' much, he was quite rough with you, Miss" Arin said slowly, trying to be as pleasant as possible while also trying to cut the conversation drastically short. He fidgeted slightly and the woman smiled, walking towards him, shoes clacking sharply against the cobbles.

"Why, that is what I am paid for, my dear fellow."

"I-I know," He stuttered as she held out a hand, almost daring him to take it. He did and he noticed the small flutter of surprise pass over her face before it was replaced by that knowing, mocking look as she curtsied.

"My street name is Mell, pleasure to meet you. You being who exactly?"

Arin swallowed audibly, ducking his head. "I'm lower on the ladder of life than a beggar, Miss. I don't have no money on me, so I's expecting that you want to be leaving right about now,"

She laughed and it was the clearest, most pure laugh Arin had ever heard.

"Call me Mell. I can see by your clothes and condition that you are of a specific situation. Your name, if you please?"

"Arin..."

"How unusual,"

Arin shrugged, he'd given himself the name after his mentor had died from the sickness.

"Arin, I don't very much care if you don't have money. I choose who I spend my time with regardless of their wealth, money does not dictate my life despite appearances." A pause as she stared at him, her eyes shining. "Show me where you're staying."

The command was so sudden and out the blue that Arin unconsciously obeyed, pointing to the closed back door.

"We're holing down in this place for a bit, it ain't much but it's better than being out in the streets, 'specially with this cold comin' in,"

She surveyed the building with a look of distaste but as Arin let slip his 'we're' her eyes snapped back to him.

"We're? How many of you are there?"

Arin crossed his arms defensively, cursing himself in his head. She was easy to talk to and it was easy to forget that she had all the same cunning wits as he did although she was better spoken. He shrugged again, turning away slightly.

"Oh, come now, I shan't tell anyone."

Arin stared hard at her.

"How can I be sure?" he asked. "What if you sic your Mistress or her guards on me?"

She sighed exasperatedly and Arin felt his ego inflate somewhat. He was a mischievous bastard, and always enjoyed frustrating people.

"I am... My own Mistress," She smiled again, her eyes challenging him. He shook his head slightly. It was mighty dangerous business to be a night dweller by yourself. You had no protection and if some other Mistress caught wind of it she'd have your base ruined and she'd make damn sure you were dead.

"You're bloody crazy," he muttered under his breath but she heard and scoffed. "I am merely a survivor, and by the looks of it, so are you. But only just."  
His shoulder-length hair whipped across his face as a fierce wind howled through the alley. "What do you mean by that, Mell?"

"You're as wasted away as a Clink inmate and I know that look very well. I was once in your position, a lowly moll, selling oranges over at the Woodsmen, but I never fared well. I was always on the edge of starvation and pain. Those men... They were... Not pleasant, to say the least..."

  
There was a distant look in her eyes now and Arin took the opportunity to glance her over properly. He noticed a few scars across her neck and chest illuminated by the street lamp and felt his throat constrict in sympathy. It was okay that he got beat occassionally, especially when he was protecting Danny, but to mark a woman with violence was the lowest of the low.

"Then I decided to educate myself and became a lady of the night, and now when I come calling they all grovel at my feet to have their way with me." She smiled bitterly and Arin took her hand gently, when she didn't protest he led her to the door.

"I 'xpect that you have a very nice place, but I think you ought ta see how we live, the two of us." he muttered, swinging open the door and leading her inside. Danny was still soundly asleep, shivering under his sacking, next to a guttering candle. Arin's bed was on the other side, his sacking balled up into a head rest rather than a cover. Mell raised her eyebrow and Arin shrugged silently, letting her wander around a bit. A floorboard creaked and Danny jolted awake, flailing blindly, taking panicked hiccuping breaths.

"Arin?!"

Arin crouched down next to him, shielding his view of Mell. "I'm here, Danny, I'm here." He stroked Danny's grimy, knotted hair soothingly. He admitted to himself in that moment that they both really needed to wash sometime soon before they started attracting attention from their appearance, or even worse, their smell.

"I had a nightmare, Arin," Danny's cheeks are wet with tears and Arin's gaze softens. Even though he was older by quite a few years, not that you could tell, there was something child-like about him that was mostly owed to his appearance. His eyes were the main show, his gaze was intense yet unfocused. Always darting around and staring off into space with wonder. His hair was relatively short and curled around his face, framing it rather than hiding it. His behaviour, Arin knew, was so child-like because it had been his coping mechanism for most of the trauma that was his life. There was a few moments of silence before Mell coughed lightly. Danny glanced between her and Arin and clung tighter to his friend.

"Arin, who is that?"

Mell crouched down easily in front of them, despite her dress looking ten times too tight for the task.

"My name is Suzy," She said softly, offering her hand to Danny who looked at it like it was a dangerous animal. Her gaze pinned Arin in place as he opened his mouth to speak and she shook her head ever so slightly.

"You don't like staying here, do you Danny?"

Danny shook his head frantically. "I like it cause Arin is with me... If Arin wasn't here then I wouldn't be here either."

"Oh?" Mell/Suzy cocked her eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Danny stared up at Arin with a pleading look and Arin turned to her.

"We don't tell no one about it, not even a lass like you. It's not somethin' nice to talk about. Even if you've had your fair share of bad experiences, it ain't nothin' compared to what I saved him from,"

Mell/Suzy nodded, retracting her hand. "I see," she mused silently for a few seconds while Danny stared at her curiously and Arin still held him.

Danny turned back to Arin, whispering in his ear. "Why's she showing her boobies like that, Arin?"

Arin knew the concept of prostitution would horrify Danny, and also probably send him into a fit of anxiety that only Arin could coax him out of. So he clucked his tongue at Danny, their signal to let him know that he was saying something wrong and Danny nodded, eyes wide, returning his stare to the lady. She was staring at them both, muttering to herself under her breath. Arin could only catch a few words that he didn't understand. "... Rent... Payments in advance... Deed of Partnership..."

Eventually she stopped muttering to herself and stood. "I'll be coming back here," she said with a little grin. "I can see some potential in this place, and you both are in desperate need of some real lodgings,"

Arin stood, scowling at her. "What can you possibly do? I told you, we're lower than beggars. Why would you help us?"

She tutted in response. "You forget that I was once like you and it pains me to see two such as yourselves in such unforgiving conditions. I'll be back tomorrow, meet me by the entrance,"

She walked out and Arin chased after her. "Wait!" She stopped underneath the street lamp, regarding him with an closed expression. "Why do you have two names? And which 'un should I know you by?" He asked. She lent in and Arin caught the scent of roses and freshly cut grass, like at the old park down by the lake. "Suzy, that's my real name. And you two are the first to know that," with a final smile she turned and vanished into the thick darkness.

Arin stared after her, feeling uncertainty start to unfold in his mind. He was sure that she'd been truthful, there wasn't any reason to lie to someone like him, but he wasn't sure what kind of deal he'd unwittingly stumbled into. He walked back to Danny who was curled up in a ball, staring at the candle. When he heard Arin's footsteps he got up and looked at him.

"What's she gonna do, Arin?" His expression was worried and his hands clawed at each other. "She's not going to do anything that'll take you away from me," Arin said sternly, taking Danny's hands apart and covering the raw skin with his palms.

Arin had always looked after Danny since he'd found out what treatment he'd been getting from his so-called family. He was like a brother to him, but occasionally Arin felt his blood stir in his brain a certain way when thinking about his best friend. He knew that he cared more deeply about Danny and that it was so deep that it breached just the simple brotherly bond. Danny had started a warmth inside him that he never knew existed and whenever they touched it sprang into a raging fire. He knew he could never do anything about it though. Danny was too scarred by his past to open himself up to anyone and it had been a miracle Arin had been able to get him to trust him so much in the first place. He didn't want to jeopardize that.

"I just, I just don't want to be alone again, Arin." Danny's eyes glistened and in the moonlight Arin finally saw how worn-down and haggard Danny looked. His eyes radiated desperation and wariness and his cheeks were sunken and hollow. Arin sighed and forced Danny to go back to sleep despite the fact that it was nearly morning. He too lay down but thought about what Suzy had in mind for them, hoping that it would help them have a better life until the morning smog rolled in and the cries of the street vendors rang over the sharp clangs of the horses shoes against the cobbles .


	2. Chapter 2

Danny had woken up from his fitful sleep a few hours later and Arin had sent him to find some food, promising that he'd be home by the time Danny got back. Once Danny had left Arin let his shoulders slump and sat on a crate, head in hands. It was hard work, worrying about the future and where to find the next scrap of a meal when your days were limited by how much money you had. He felt a cool hand on his cheek and looked up from the floorboards.

"Hello Arin," It was Suzy and she'd managed to slip past the guards outside and get into the building. Arin decided he didn't want to know how she did.

"You came," He couldn't keep the accusatory tone out of his voice. She raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Of course! I don’t break promises,” There was a hint in her voice that Arin knew meant that promises given to her would not be broken either or there would be dire consequences and Arin felt that angering, she who he would soon call his Mistress (though he didn’t know this at the time), would not be a good idea. He nodded curtly, rubbing his hands along his bare arms.

“Now, lets get you all cleaned up!” Suzy gripped his arm, with an such a vice-like strength that Arin had no choice when she pushed him towards the door to the outside world and dragged him down the crowded, dirty streets of the industrial slums.

Slowly but surely the choking smoke belches from the factories changed to a cloying smell that clung to the nostrils and seemed to have a near tangible appearance. They passed music houses, taverns and theatres, squeezing through alleyways and pushing through impossibly crowded byways. Eventually Suzy stopped in front of a  towering building with marble sculptures and gilded columns along the front, surrounded on either side by reaching green gardens.

“What is this place?” Arin gasped, shrinking back from the incredible finery that lay before him, Suzy held him close though and the comfort from her scent made him step forward. An intense curiosity came over him as he looked from sparkling tiles to the godly statues that were covered in morning dew, the pale stone glistening in the sunlight.

“Tis’ the baths, where I can see what I’ve got for my money.” It was said with a wink, and a playful shove through the entrance. An open area, covered in white tile, with pillars reaching to the arching ceiling greeted his eyes. Alcoves littered the walls, and large troughs littered the floor, some with braying gentlemen and their manservants, others with glorious ladies lounging in the water-filled troughs, maids fluttering around their area with soaps and scents. When Suzy told him to strip down, and step into one of the troughs on the open floor, after emerging from a deal with the owner, Arin refused.

“Oh, please. We are all human, there’s no need to be so modest!”

Arin looked around, biting his lip. These people were such terrifyingly grand creatures - all occupied in primping themselves, rubbing oils into their limbs, applying colours to their faces or having their hair dressed, while he…

“I’m too lowly, ma’am.” He mumbled, looking down at his grime-covered bare feet, suddenly too aware of the straggly strings of his hair, and the way his clothes stank when he moved. It was all too much.

When Arin raised his eyes from the tiles, Suzy had a stern look on her face. “My money is as good as theirs.” She pointed her chin at the other occupants in the room.

“I feel so... so disgusting.” Arin protested, shrinking back again.

“That, my sweet, is why we are here.” She tugged at his clothing, not pulling back as he expected, instead impatiently but gently stripping his clothes off.

A young girl came in with jugs of hot water, filling up the trough and another appeared, lacing some musky-scented oil through the water.

“Now, in.” Suzy pushed lightly at his lower back when the bath seemed full.

Arin stepped into it, sliding down into the warmth till his shoulders were being lapped at by the sweet-smelling water. Two young men entered, each bringing with them a multitude of soaps and scents, alternately scrubbing his body and dunking him beneath the water. When they’d finished this, and the bath water, he was mortified to see, was a murky grey, it gurgled away through pipes beneath. More hot water was brought, and his hair was washed twice over; then, as Arin sat in the bath, jug after jug of scented rinsing water was poured over him.

When they were finished and Suzy had inspected Arin closely, pronouncing her satisfaction, he was helped from the bath and smothered with towels. Sweet-scented oil was rubbed into his limbs, his hair brushed through with lavender water. Then, he was presented with fresh clothes, an undershirt, a plain grey linen jacket with a pair of tight, maroon leggings cut just below his knees.

“There we go,” Suzy cooed as Arin pulled aside the makeshift curtain, skin rosy and clean. “From a ragged colt comes a good horse. You’ll do nicely.”

“For what?”

Suzy shook her head. “That comes later, Arin.”

She took him by the hand, with much more finesse than before, and led him out of the bathing house, down rows and rows of immaculate houses, each with their own colours before them, hanging in banners and down the sides of the doors.

“Where are we?” Arin puffed once Suzy halted in front of a door with pink and purple banners fluttering by it’s sides. They’d been walking for at least an hour judging from the lengthening of the shadows around them.

“We are at my lodgings.” Suzy opened the door with an indulgent smirk, allowing Arin to pass before her while he gaped at the luxuries and fineries in the entrance alone. A mahogany arch led into a wide foyer crowded with stuffed animals and tables laden with all kinds of drinks.

Wide marble stairs led to a second story, and veering off from the entrance was the dining room. Arin could only stand and stare at the luxury before his eyes, he swore for a moment as his soul bloomed hot and fresh in his body, that he’d died and gone to heaven and that Suzy was an angel,  _ his  _ angel. A guardian angel in waiting.

She took his hand with all the finesse of a lady in waiting, and lead him up the stairs.

The second story was even more fabulous than Arin could comprehend. Green velvet drapes shrouded white netted windows, thick burgundy carpets swam around his feet, the softness that swallowed his newly-cleaned feet was liberating. Stands of mahogany and an enormous four-poster bed took up most of the open floor. Arin was led to sit on the bed, and Suzy stood back, appraising him with an expert eye. 

“You look good,” She murmured, almost to herself, looking pleased with herself. Arin stared around the room as he waited instruction. How Suzy had ended up in his part of town when she had a place like  _ this  _ was incomprehensible to Arin. His fingers fidgeted together as he looked out of the window. Darkness was setting in, and it was with a cry that he leapt from the bed as he remembered his friend.

“Danny!”

Suzy cocked her head, before a spark of recognition lit in her eyes. “Wait here,” She said sternly, holding a hand to his chest and pushing him back to the bed before exiting, dress fluttering around her ankles, heels muffled by the soft carpet.

 

It felt like an eternity to Arin that he waited, surrounded in luxury, nervously fidgeting but not moving from his spot on the bed. Too scared that he would smear his lowliness on Suzy’s lovely finery. The moon rose into the sky, large and white, and Arin stared out of the stained glass windows, watching as the moon passed over the different panels, changing colours.

When the door to the bedroom clicked open, he jolted upright, springing to his feet with apprehension.

“Is Danny with you?” He called, before being engulfed in a bear hug by his counterpart, thick curly hair bouncing in Arin’s face. “Danny!” He cried, tightly holding the older man to him. Danny clung to him, choked sobs escaping.

“I did what you said, Arin. But you nev’r came back. And then Miss Suzy came and said she had you, I didn’t know what to think Arin!” He rasped. “I was cryin’ the whole way here, I thought she’d done you in - like what my family did to you that time.”

Arin stared at Suzy, who was stood in the doorway, watching the reunion with blank eyes. “They ain’t your family no more. I am, and so’s Suzy.” He said firmly, holding Danny back and meeting his eyes.

“You’re safe here, Danny. We both are.”

Little did Arin know just what Suzy had in store for him.


End file.
